


The Lights of San Fransokyo

by SilveryBeing



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M, Flash Fiction, Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 07:19:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14950121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilveryBeing/pseuds/SilveryBeing
Summary: Aqua has fallen to darkness and so Yen Sid has sent Axel and Kairi on a mission to find replacement Guardians of Light. But they find someone not even the sorcerer expected.





	The Lights of San Fransokyo

The lights of San Fransokyo threw splashes of color onto an otherwise dark and dreary night. Kairi had never seen anything quite like it, the way the rain so thoroughly mixed light and darkness together, both existing in a harmony that reminded her of Riku’s philosophy.

Her partner though wasn’t entranced with the rain like she was. Kairi eyed her fellow redhead across the diner booth who was silently picking at the shared plate of potato fries with a far away look.

“Are you still thinking about your friend Axel?”

“Huh?” He startled a moment before absorbing the question. “Yeah. Man, he didn’t have to be so angry with us.”

_“No! No no no! Forget it!” The blonde busker yelled. “I don’t care what high and mighty mission you are on, I want nothing to do it. I finally got my life back, my actual honest to Light life, and you expect me to jump right back in the fray? I’m not like you Axel, I never have been. If you want to waste your second chance at life, then do it on your own!”_

Kairi took a hot fry for herself. “But at least you know he’s okay and hasn’t been taken by Xehanort.” A cold comfort was a still a comfort.

“I guess,” Axel said weakly. “I knew it was a long shot but I guess deep down I had hoped…” He leaned back and stared out the window at the rainy city.

“That a sitar could become a keyblade, I know.” Kairi supplied for him. “But we can’t forced him. It’s not just the Light we are fighting for, but for everyone to be able to live their own lives in peace, just like he is.”

Axel continued to stare out the window. “It’s not a waste is it?” He asked quietly.

“What is?”

The fiery redhead sighed. “I mean, he’s right, I got a second chance. And I’m just jumping right back into the very same war, only this time I used up my chances. If I...if I don’t bring my friends back then I won’t get another shot at it.”

Kairi mentally supplied the missing word herself. She reached across the table and grasped his wrist, pulling his attention back to the present. “Axel, you won’t have to worry about using up your second chance. I promise. As long as I’m with you, I’ll keep you safe.” She gave his wrist a squeeze.

Axel looked at her in shocked surprise before settling into a warm smile. “Thank you. You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were the firebringer among us."

Kairi let go of Axel’s wrist and sat back down with a giggle. “Your bad habits are rubbing off on me.”

Axel shared her laugh and returned to the fries. “So, what should we tell the old man?”

Kairi groaned and pulled out a well worn slip of paper. There were still more names left on the list, most she didn’t recognize, but the potentials were getting shorter and shorter. With a swipe of her pen she crossed out the name Meyd. Their mission was turning out to be a lot more difficult than Yen Sid suggested.

The pair ate in silence, the list laying between them like a dead weight. If they could get one, just one, to hear them out. To come with them to the Mysterious Tower. To fight for the Light. But time and time again they were shut down by those the sorcerer considered to have potential. Fear, indifference, disbelief, it didn’t matter why. And they couldn’t force it. They weren’t Xehanort.

“Excuse me,” a new voice spoke up. “You two seem to be having some trouble.”

Kairi caught silver hair out of the corner of her eye, and for the briefest second she thought Riku had arrived on this world. But the hair was far too fluffy for her old friend. It was someone new, a young boy in black clothes and a red scarf. His face held the same soft openness of Sora’s, but had an air of maturity and confidence that made her heart skip a beat.

Axel seemed less impressed. “Maybe we are,” he said as he crossed his arms and studied the new comer with critical eye. “What’s it to you?”

“I thought I could offer you some help- Axel was it?”

“Lea,” he corrected sharply.

The silver haired stranger just smiled. “Lea then. What seems to be the problem?”

“Nothing you ca-gah!” Axel was cut off by Kairi’s boot at this shin.

“We appreciate the thought,” Kairi started kindly. “But I’m afraid our situation is a little complicated.”

“Oh?” The stranger’s expression turned mischievous. “Why don’t you try me?” He held out his hand. A glowing gold and purple star hung at the end of a keychain that dangled between his fingers.

The two redheads leapt to their feet in shock.

“You’re a keyblade wielder,” Kairi breathed in awe.

“What’s your name?” Axel asked, his guard down for the first time.

“You won’t find me on that list of yours,” the stranger said as the keychain vanished. “My name is Ephemer. And I think I can help you more than you realize.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was a one shot I wrote at work. I had been thinking about how the mobile game will tie into Kingdom Hearts 3 and had the realization that Ephemer was in Back Cover. So he has the potential to show up in KH3, and I really hope he does. Also now I ship him with Kairi, way to go me!


End file.
